


Governing's Harder

by aristoast (Tadrou), ksdene



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, M/M, Multi, Slow Burn, ace John Laurens, mostly humor probably some angst in the future, poly lamliza
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-05-14 01:51:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5725294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tadrou/pseuds/aristoast, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ksdene/pseuds/ksdene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The life, times, and adventures of the Washington Administration, and the Hamiltons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Swivel Chairs and Tissues

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, another modern au. We aren't even sorry.

   Ever since he was a child, Alexander Hamilton strove for greatness. He spoke his first word at 5 months, his first compound sentence at age 1. He wrote his first story at age 4, complete with pictures and all. His mother smiled at him with her sea blue eyes and sprinkling of freckles, both of which found their way to his own appearance, and told him it was magnificent. That  _ he _ was magnificent.

_ Magnificent indeed, mom. _ He thought as he sat at his new desk, in his own White House office. How he wished she was alive now, to see him at the right hand of President George Washington. 

_Secretary of the Treasury._ He smiled to himself. _I’m Secretary of the Treasury._ _Are you proud?_ He assumed she would be as he spun around in his chair and laughed. “I’m Secretary of the Treasury!”

“I’m happy to see you feel right at home, Alexander.” Said a voice from the doorway.

“Sir!” He hopped out of his chair, grinning at President Washington. “Absolutely, I think I’ll like this job.” 

“I should hope so. I chose you for a reason.” The ghost of a smile graced the new president’s face. “Will I see you and Elizabeth at dinner?”

“Yes. And Laurens, sir.”

“You two are the best of friends, of course I should expect him.” Washington’s tone hinted at something that Alexander willfully ignored.

“Of course, sir. He’s half the reason I made it through college. Betsey being the other.” He shifted on his feet, trying to think of a different topic. “So… How does Mrs.Washington like the new place? I saw one of her cats while I was moving all my files in here.”

“Only one? I swear, she would rather cats than children.” He smiled just a bit more. “Now then, I’ll leave you to your work. See you at dinner.”

Alexander gave a small wave, smiling back. “See you then, sir!” He nearly shouted as Washington walked off. 

Alexander hummed as he rearranged his desk for the umpteenth time. There wasn’t exactly much work to do, the real grind would start tomorrow since everyone was moving in. It was probably after the 7th time he adjusted the height of his chair that he came to two very important realizations. The first was that he had to pee. The second was that he had yet to figure out where the nearest bathroom was. Sure he could ask one of the interns bustling around or a secret service agent, but dammit he was Alexander Hamilton, he did not need help finding the bathroom. With that thought, his cell phone, and a strong yet weakening sense of control over his bladder, Alexander Hamilton ventured out of his office and into the depths of the unknown. Well, slightly unknown. He made his way down the hallway and came to an intersection.To his left was a series of doors, one of which he was at least 78% sure led to Jefferson’s office, and that was the last direction he wanted to go in.To his right was another series of doors, one he recalled on one of their walkthroughs of the building quite possibly being a bathroom, so with an increasing sense of urgency, he turned to the right, and opened the third door he came to, one he was quite certain would grant him the relief he so desperately sought.

“You know I don’t know how they do things in Nevis, but here in America we knock before entering someone else’s office.”  The minute Alexander heard that voice he cursed himself.

“You know after living in the states for so long I hadn’t encountered that custom, thank you for enlightening me Secretary Jefferson.  I mean it’s only been what- 16 years? These customs are all just so strange and foreign to me still. Thank God I have our all knowing Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson to enlighten me. Tell me Jefferson, what are those strange silver pointy things used for at dinner? I think they’re called forks?  We clearly don’t have any of those in the Caribbean either, I’ve been using them as weapons, maybe I’m supposed to gauge your eyes out with them-”

“Did you need something Hamilton?”  Jefferson rolled his eyes, cutting Hamilton off mid verbal paragraph. Alexander panicked for half a second. He obviously couldn’t admit to Jefferson that he’d gotten lost trying to find the bathroom, that would just be embarrassing, but his need to urinate was growing stronger by the second. He briefly considered peeing in the potted plant next to Jefferson’s desk but decided that might be a bad idea.

“I was simply wondering if you knew where those files I had sent over from the treasury building might have wound up. Files are a thing here in America right?”  _ Nice save Alex, he’ll never know you got lost now _ .  Jefferson blinked.

“You know you have an assistant to tell you that right?” Alexander mentally cursed again.

“I was testing you.”

“What?” Jefferson just kind of stared in confusion.

“Well I was just  _ wondering _ if you knew the actual purpose of an assistant, seeing as yours spends most of her time assisting you in…. personal matters.” Alex smirked.

“I don’t know what you mean.”  Thomas Jefferson knew exactly what Alexander meant.

“I’m talking about sex.” And with that Alexander snatched Jefferson’s tissue box and ran away.

“THOSE WERE IMPORTED.” Alexander cackled at Jefferson’s indignant yelling as he managed to go down the correct hallway this time and find a bathroom. He tucked the idea of peeing in Jefferson’s plant for the next time he was off on some diplomatic trip. After peeing, though, he did make sure to take a selfie with the stolen tissues.

**@OfficialAHam: Officially moved into the White House Office! Thanks for the tissues @TomJeffs**


	2. Aaron Burr, Sir

With a laugh to himself he put his phone in his pocket, and started wandering around the sprawling hallways. He saw vaguely familiar faces every so often and greeted them with a smile. He was nearly bouncing in anticipation for the evening, for he was to see Laurens for the first time in almost a year. Laurens had been staying with his ailing father, but the old bastard had– unfortunately, in Alexander’s opinion– gotten back on his feet as of late. At least he would get to see his best friend, and help him forget about his old fart of a father. His mind jumped from subject to subject as he strolled around, from Eliza to Laurens to President Washington to Jefferson to–

“Alexander Hamilton.”

_ Burr. _

“Aaron Burr, sir. What’s a New York senator doing here?”

“When will you learn to keep your nose out of other people’s affairs?”

Ouch. Alexander had to admit, that was a good retort. But he would never let Burr think that.

“You’re so boring, Burr. Have fun doing whatever lame thing you’re doing while  _ I’m  _ being Secretary of the Treasury!”

Good one, Alexander. He would have high fived himself if he could. Burr rolled his eyes.

“Hamilton are you ever going to outgrow those childish retorts?” Burr and Hamilton had known each other for years.

“When it comes to you Burr? Shoot me the day I do.” Alex laughed as they started walking alongside each other. Burr fell into their familiar pace from when they were undergrads; Burr may be the taller of the two men but Hamilton walked as fast as he spoke, making learning to walk next to him a struggle for anyone. “Honestly though, what brings you by the White House?  No real work is actually getting done today.”  Hamilton sounded almost cranky about the fact.

“As evidenced by your twitter. Do I want to know what happened with the tissues Hamilton?” Anyone who knew Hamilton could tell you that an Alexander Hamilton without work to do was the personification of Pandora’s chaos.

“Oh don’t worry, Secretary Jefferson is one more terrified intern away from ranting about it on twitter I’m sure.” That’s how their arguments usually went at least. “You didn’t answer my question Burr.”

“If you must know, I had a meeting. And an invitation to the President’s dinner tonight.”  Burr just shook his head.  

“You’re going to be at the dinner tonight?  I guess that brings the whole gang back together.” Alex grinned.

“Dear god you don’t mean-”

“Lafayette flew in this morning, and John is back in town and joining us.” Honestly this was the first time their old circle of friends had been in the same place for years.

“And Mulligan?” Burr instantly regretted inquiring.

“Meeting us all for drinks after. You should join us Burr, for old times’ sake.” Hamilton grinned that obnoxious grin that Burr was more familiar with than he cared to admit.

“If memory serves, our ‘old times’ don’t exactly suit a Senator, a Treasury Secretary, a diplomat, and a lawyer, two of whom are married with children need I remind you.”  Burr gave Hamilton the look that preceded nearly every one of their college disasters.

“You forgot a fashion designer.”

“No, something tells me it still  _ completely _ suits Mulligan.” Hamilton burst out laughing.

“Which is why it’ll be fun. Come on, Eliza’s coming too, and we have sitters for the night. When was the last time you went out instead of being boring.”

“When was the last time you went out instead of passing out at your desk?”

“Touche.” Even Hamilton couldn’t deny that he could be a workaholic. “That’s why we need this Burr. Destress before real start of the Washington administration and everything. I’m sure you could use a break before doing whatever it is Republicans do in the Senate.”

“I think I’ll pass.” 

Alex just shook his head. “It’s your loss!” The shorter man laughed. “I will see you tonight though?”

“Of course, Hamilton. We already established this.” Burr made a mental note to check twitter throughout the night, Hamilton drunk tweeting was almost as ridiculous as his sober tweeting.

“Just double checking, Burr. See you then.” He gave another mischievous smile as he walked off, continuing down hallway. He was just reaching the exit at the far end of the corridor when his phone began to ring.


	3. The Place To Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A phone call, and the entrance of the cinnamon rolls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE RISE  
> School has been literal murder. But it's summer, WHICH MEANS WE RISE. We have some cool stuff planned but for now enjoy what we have for you BBBBB)

“Alexander Hamilton speaking, who is this?” He answered, not recognizing the number.

“Alex!”

“…James?” Hamilton was in awe. How did his brother get his number after dropping contact with him for  _ ten years _ ?

“You got it! I heard about your little job for the president and thought I’d give you a congrats call!”

Alexander grit his teeth and sighed as he stepped outside into the cold winter air. “James, it’s not a little job. It’s quite important, actually, and how the hell did you get my number?” So many questions were spinning in his mind that he had to bite his tongue to keep them from spilling out all at once.

“Big job, little job, you know what I mean. I’m proud of you, Alex. Workin’ for the president is somethin’ to be proud of. And don’t worry about how I got your number, it doesn’t matter.” Alexander heard birds chattering in the background of his brother’s voice, and nearly gave a sigh of longing for the warm caribbean weather. He would never get used to D.C.’s winter, let alone the winter farther north.

“Well… Thanks, James. Really. It’s really nice to hear your voice again.” He could never stay mad at his older brother. “Call more often, okay?”

His brother gave an incredulous noise from the other line. “You’re hanging up already?”

“James, I gotta go. I have a ton of work to do, but I’ll call you back later tonight.” In truth, Alexander was merely freezing and in a sort of shock from his brother’s mysterious phone appearance. “I promise.”

“Alright, Alex, talk to you later. Keep up the hard work, okay?”

“Got it. Bye, James.” As soon as he hung up, he darted inside and basked in the beautiful warmth of the central heating system. As he made his way back to his office, Alexander texted his wife to share his bewilderment.

**alex:** _ eliza my brother just called me???? _

**best of wives:** _ what? are you sure? _

**alex:** _ yeah im 100% positive. i have no idea how he got my number. _

**best of wives:** _ thats really weird. when was the last time he even talked to you? _

**alex:** _ he sent me a birthday card with $10 in it ten years ago. all the card said was “I hope you live long enough to shit yourself” and his signature on the inside. classic james. _

**best of wives:** _ thats so odd. btw, are you on your way home yet? we should start getting ready for the dinner. _

**alex:** _ theres still like 3 hours before we have to be here though _

**best of wives:** _ theres a little surprise for you before dinner :) _

**alex:** _ ;) ;) ;) _

**best of wives:** _ dont ever do that again _

 

Eliza set her phone down, rolling her eyes. Leave it to her husband to make an innuendo out of anything. Really, she should have expected it. She was just starting to put the remainder of the papers she needed to grade in her bag when the terrors of Capitol Hill Day School ran into her classroom– Philip talking a mile a minute about his piano lesson, and little Angelica no less than two steps behind her brother. Eliza laughed and shook her head as she finished packing up her things.

“-and then Theo told me I can’t call Patsy Jefferson stupid because she’s wrong but I said I could because that’s what Dad does and-”  Eliza cut Philip off mid sentence.

“Philip, what have I said about calling people stupid?”

“That it’s only ok if it’s about a Jefferson?”  Philip grinned and Eliza sighed.

“No, I believe I said it’s not ok ever.”  Eliza made a mental note to talk to Alexander about his political rivalries rubbing off on their children.

“Dad’s the one who said it was only ok if it’s a Jefferson, Phil.”  Angelica just smiled.

“Oh yeaaaaahhhhhh.”  Philip shrugged and Eliza laughed.

“Just remember that Patsy Jefferson is a person too and has feelings just like you.”  She cut the kids off mid protest. “No matter what your father says about her father.” She shook her head. “Now, if either of you want to come to pick up Uncle John at the airport there will be no more calling  _ anyone _ stupid, is that clear?” The kids immediately stopped talking about the relative intellect of any of their classmates, which was honestly a miracle. Her kids weren’t bad by any means, but sometimes it was obvious who their father was. “That’s what I thought. Come on you two, if we’re late picking Alex Jr. up again they might decide to keep him.” She joked as she led the kids over to the preK floor of CHDS to pick up the current youngest of the Hamilton children, who was incredibly excited to show them the picture he drew during art today. Eliza taught seventh grade English in the upper grades of CHDS, a job she loved and her husband called her a saint for doing.  As frustrating as 13 year olds can be, she found it rewarding, and teaching didn’t come without perks for the growing Hamilton family.  Eliza and Alexander had both agreed when Philip was born that they wanted their kids to go to the absolute best school they could find, yet still be close to the Hill (where Alex had, at the time, been working on Washington’s senate staff), and with the discount on tuition their children received since Eliza taught made the school the best choice for all of them.

Eliza loaded the kids up into the minivan (that Alexander insisted they didn’t need and were not lame enough for until the time he had to pick the kids up from school in his Civic when they also had playdates) and headed for Ronald Reagan. “Now you three need to be on your best behavior when we get there, do you understand? No running off, we don’t need a repeat of when your Aunt Peggy visited last year.” They’d nearly had all of DC shut down when Philip somehow managed to wander off. They had found him in the gift shop.

“We  _ know _ Mom, no running off.” Philip also got the grounding of a lifetime after that incident.

“ _ Right _ .” Eliza pulled into the closest parking spot she could find and unbuckled Alex Jr. and Angelica while Philip got out on his own. “Angelica, Alex, hold my hands, Philip, you stay in my line of sight at all times.” The children did as they were told, buzzing with excitement to see “Uncle John”  for the first time in a year.

“Mom, how come Uncle John’s hasn’t visited in  _ forever? _ ”  Angie asked, bouncing with excitement.

“Because his dad has been sick and he needed to help take care of him. Now he’s better so he’s back in DC.” Eliza smiled, she was as excited as her children to see John.  They’d known each other since college, he was one of her closest… friends. She let go of Angelica’s hand to wave at John once he was close enough that the inevitable could happen with minimal danger. The inevitable, of course, being that Philip and Angelica would forget the rule about not running off and go to tackle their uncle.

“UNCLE JOHN!!!” If John Laurens hadn’t known to expect it, they would have knocked him over with the sheer force of their hugs.

“Hey you two!” He hugged them back, then moved to hug Eliza who had shortly caught up. “Good to know these three haven’t completely worn you out yet, Eliza.” He grinned and picked up Alex Jr. “And when did you get so big? You’re almost grown up!”  He laughed as the older two Hamilton children protested. “Maybe not quite.”

“Oh trust me John, between these three, my students, and my husband, I don’t think anything could wear me out at this point.”  She laughed as John juggled his luggage and a four year old. “Please tell me your suit isn’t crammed into either of those suitcases, it’s going to be wrinkled.”

“Calm down Eliza, I left an extra at your place before heading to Charleston, remember?” What John didn’t take down to South Carolina was currently taking up residence in the Hamilton’s spare bedroom. The group made small talk the entire way home, which mostly consisted of the kids loudly interrupting each other as John tried to ask them questions, the minivan filled with laughter. Eliza simply smiled as she listened to the commotion, happy to have John back and wondering what she did to deserve all the good in her life.


End file.
